ST MARYS HALL

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The monument includes the Guildhall for the guild of St Mary, Coventry. The guild was founded in 1340 and the construction of the hall began in 1340 and was completed by 1342. The hall, constructed from sandstone, was enlarged circa 1460. Built around a courtyard, the hall and its undercroft occupy the west side along with a two storeyed gatehouse. On the south and east sides of the courtyard are timber framed ranges of a later 15th century and circa 1400 date. At the extreme south west corner of the courtyard there is a three-storeyed tower known as Caeser's Tower which was rebuilt after suffering bomb damage during World War II. The hall was restored in 1824 by the architect Stedman Whitwell. It is believed that the hall is built on the foundations of and incorporates stones from the 12th century castle of the Earls of Chester (SP 37 NW 71). Listed Grade I.

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(SP33577896) St Mary's Hall [NR].(1)

St Mary's Hall, built ca.1341 by the Guilds of the city. now a
municipal office. See GP.(2)

Depicted.(3)

SP335789. St Mary's Hall, Bayley Lane. Scheduled: West Midlands
No.31.(4)

The present hall stands on the site of an earlier hall built for the
Guild of St Mary soon after its foundation in 1340. The present
complex of buildings are mainly late C14th to early C15th and
enclose a small rectangular courtyard.
The hall and its undercroft occupy the West side of the
courtyard. The rest of the West street frontage consists of a two-
storeyed stone gatehouse, while the South and East sides are timber-
framed buildings. Further South stands the stone-built kitchen,
originally rising through three storeys to an open roof. To the West
of the kitchen, and partly incorporated in it, is a large timber-framed structure adjoining the South end of the hall. At the extreme SW corner, and communicating with the latter building, is the three-
storeyed tower known as Caesar's Tower. The latter suffered bomb
damage in WWII and has since been restored.
Stones from the ruins of the C12th castle of the Earls of
Chester, (SP37NW71), may have been reused to build Caesar's Tower
and the kitchen South wall, and the foundations of the tower may
well be built on a former castle structure. The kitchen may represent
part of the original hall, or may a remodelling of the earliest kitchen.
A version of the City Annals records the building's erection
in 1394 and completion in 1414, but Dugdale, on the evidence of
window glass which no longer exists, considered the date to be later.
The building to the South of the hall is late C14th-C15th, and may
be that building called the Council House in 1441, which was
reroofed in 1614 following a fire. The hall itself is 76' long by 30'
wide and consists of five bays. The ancillary buildings were all altered or added to throughout the C15th. The whole group was restored in 1824 by Stedman Whitwell, and again after WWII.(5)

St Mary's Hall. Grade I.(6)

SOURCE TEXT

(1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 1:2500 1961

(2) General reference

Sharp. 1871. Coventry Antiquities.

(3) General reference

Map of Coventry, 1610. (Speed J)

(4) English Heritage 1987 County list of Scheduled Ancient Monuments : December 1987

West Midlands Page(s)4

(5) edited by W. B. Stephens 1969 A history of the county of Warwick: volume VIII: the City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)141-3

(6) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

Coventry 24/06/1974 Page(s)5

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